B.o.B (rapper)
Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. (born November 15, 1988), also known by his stage name B.o.B, is an American rapper, singer and record producer. He is currently signed under the labels of Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock Entertainment, and Atlantic Records. His debut single "Nothin' on You" reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom. "Airplanes," B.o.B's second single, emulated this success, peaking at number one and number two in the U.K. and the U.S., respectively. His third single, "Magic," became B.o.B's third consecutive top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. B.o.B was named the ninth Hottest MC in the Game of 2010 by MTV. Early life B.o.B was born Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. on November 15, 1988 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Less than a month later, his family moved to Decatur, Georgia. In elementary school through high school, where he played the trumpet in his school band. Although his parents wanted him to continue his education, Simmons decided in sixth grade that he wanted to pursue a music career. His father, a pastor, disapproved of his son's choices until he realized that Simmons was using music as a form of therapy and a creative outlet. Simmons later reflected on his experience, saying, "They’ve always supported me. They got my first keyboard to make beats on and they helped me out getting equipment here and there. But it was kind of hard for them to really understand what I was really trying to accomplish." B.o.B went to Columbia High School in Decatur, GA. Music career Early career B.o.B first began to gain major recognition at the start of 2007. An underground single, "Haterz Everywhere," featuring Wes Fif, gained the rapper recognition and peaked at #5 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. A remix featuring Young Dre was featured in the video game Fight Night Round 4. Another single, "I'll Be In the Sky," was released in late 2008 reached #115 on the follow chart. About.com called the song a "smart, funky artrap and a strong prelude to his album" and included it at #13 on its subjective ranking "Top 100 Rap Songs of 2008." This was followed by another single called "Don't Let Me Fall" which was more of an R&B song than the usual rap. He was also featured on T.I.'s album Paper Trail on the song "On Top of the World." Incidentally, another song produced by Bobby Ray called "Generation Lost" listed alongside the song on the ranking at #32. The same year, he appeared on the cover of XXL magazine along with Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton, and Wale as "Hip-Hop's Class of '09". In October 2008, B.o.B was featured on the cover of Vibe along with some of these same young musicians and was similarly identified as promising young talent. He has described his influences as "80's music, rap, techno, rock, funk, even doo-wop...". B.o.B has also worked with artists such as British rapper Giggs. Along with his solo producing career, B.o.B is part of a production/rap group called HamSquad, along with Playboy Tre, TJ Chapman, and B. Rich. 2009–2010: The Adventures of Bobby Ray His debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, was originally expected to be released on May 25, 2010, but was advanced to April 27, 2010 due to the commercial success of his song "Nothin' on You", featuring Bruno Mars. The album was released under T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle and includes features from Lupe Fiasco, T.I., Playboy Tre, Hayley Williams, Rivers Cuomo, Rico Barrino, Eminem, Janelle Monáe, Bruno Mars, and Young Dro. Three other singles followed: "Don't Let Me Fall" (released April 6, 2010), "Airplanes" (April 13, 2010; featuring Hayley Williams), and "Bet I" (April 20, 2010; featuring T.I. and Playboy Tre). A video for "Bet I" has been released on Atlantic Videos on YouTube. The album was released April 27, 2010 and was given generally positive reviews. His album sold 84,000 copies in the first week and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. It made B.o.B the 13th male solo artist to have a debut album at #1 in its first week. In July, B.o.B announced he will go on tour, naming it The SHOOTiN for Stars Tour. The dates and times were released on his website on July 13. B.o.B has received nominations for his album, singles, and himself by the BET Awards, Teen Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and the new Suckerfree Summit. "Airplanes" was featured in the trailer for the upcoming movie Charlie St. Cloud and "Magic" also landed him an Adidas commercial with him in it. B.o.B was announced to be a performer at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on August 18. He was added to the line-up of Eminem, Linkin Park, Kanye West, Drake, Usher, Paramore, Florence and the Machine, and Justin Bieber. As of July 2010, B.o.B is the latest artist to star in the new Adidas commercial which features "Magic." On August 14, 2010, Hayley Williams announced via the Official Paramore Fan Club that B.o.B would be the main support for Paramore's November U.K. Tour. B.o.B also opened for Eminem and Jay-Z's The Home & Home Tour at Comerica Park. B.o.B also did MTV Unplugged session. He performed songs off his debut album together with guests such as Robin Thicke, Melanie Fiona, and Janelle Monae. B.o.B also made an appearance in Lollapalooza 2010. B.o.B. made an appearance at the 2010 MTV VMA's on September 12, 2010. He performed parts of both his singles, "Nothin' On You" with Bruno Mars and "Airplanes" with Hayley Williams of Paramore. On December 7, 2010, B.o.B. released his mixtape No Genre. B.o.B was named "Best New Artist" by iTunes 2010 Rewind Chart. The Adventures of Bobby Ray was certified Gold by the RIAA on December 16. His song "Champion" from the mixtape May 25 was chosen as the ESPN Bowl Week theme. Jessie J released a single along with B.o.B called "Price Tag" on 30 January 2011 in the United Kingdom. The song was quick to reach number one in the UK charts selling 84,000 copies in its first week of sales. On March 22, 2011 Electronic Arts released the Launch Trailer for the upcoming first-person-shooter Crysis 2 with a featured song by B.o.B. entitled "New York New York" containing the main piano chorus from the song "Theme from New York, New York" commonly sung by Frank Sinatra; the song's featured artist, who sung the chorus (similar to the original's), is unconfirmed. On March 25, a song titled "No Future" was leaked. The song was dissing Tyler, the Creator. B.o.B appeared on the official remix to Kesha's hit single "Blow". The remix was released to iTunes on May 17, 2011. In the summer of 2011 B.o.B was announced the new face of T.I.'s clothing line A.K.O.O. He will be featured in AKOO Clothing’s upcoming fall 2011 national advertising campaign alongside Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, Carl Crawford of the Boston Red Sox, and star of the BET hit sitcom, The Game, Hosea Chanchez. He will be appearing in a graphic novel for A.K.O.O titled Hide In Plain Sight – Saving the World From Fashion Conspiracy. 2011–present: Upcoming album On August 27th, 2011 a video appeared on YouTube of B.o.B performing at Colorado State University, where he previewed a song titled "Strange Clouds" that features Lil Wayne. In a Q&A with Syracuse University’s The Daily Orange, B.o.B spoke of his second studio album for the first time. He went on to say "It's a more mature sound but nothing too experimental. It's a happy medium between the sound of B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray and the mixtapes, so everyone should be able to enjoy it. I'd say I'm 90 percent done with it right now, but the album title is still TBA." On September 23rd, 2011 B.o.B released a trailer, through his website, for the upcoming single "Strange Clouds". The trailer announced the single will be officially released October 3rd Discography * 2010: The Adventures of Bobby Ray * 2012: Strange Clouds Music * Music Videos * Videos * Links *B.o.B. – Strange Clouds (Stream) *B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray (Stream) See Also * List of Rappers * List of Rappers and Rap Groups * List of American rappers * List of American rappers and rap groups * List of Atlanta Metropolitan Area rappers and rap groups Category:2000's rappers Category:2010's rappers Category:2000's hip-hop Category:2010's Hip-Hop Category:American hip-hop Category:American rappers and rap groups Category:American rappers Category:Rappers and Rap Groups in Atlanta Category:Rappers in Atlanta Category:Southern hip-hop musicians Category:Rappers and Rap Groups in Atlanta Metropolitan Area Category:Rappers and Rap Groups Category:Rappers Category:Grand Hustle Records Category:Grand Hustle Record rappers Category:CEO Category:1988 births Category:American hip-hop record producers Category:Hip-Hop record producers Category:African-American hip-hop record producers Category:Wikipedia Category:November 15 birthdays